In a February 2005 sermon, Pastor David Fairchild of Kaleo Church in San Diego spoke these words:
Since political parties and governmental structures and systems are made up of people, and people are sinners, there is no ultimate comfort or hope that should be placed in them. We shouldn’t place our faith in a system that will save us, a government that will coddle us, or a political figure that will act as our messiah.
As profound as those words were over four years ago, they seem even more apropos now for those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ. In a world that increasingly looks to government to solve the problems of our time, we must realize that no government or political leader is capable of dealing with the really crucial issues of life.
And yet, at the same time, even though our permanent citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20), we are currently residents here on earth where we are governed by government authorities of all kinds. So how do we maintain our faith in God and yet live our lives here on earth “under the sun.”? That’s the issue that the author, Qoheleth, addresses as we continue our journey through Ecclesiastes:
1 Who is like a wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, And the sternness of his face is changed. 2 I say, "Keep the king’s commandment for the sake of your oath to God. 3 "Do not be hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand for an evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him." 4 Where the word of a king is, there is power; And who may say to him, "What are you doing?" 5 He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful; And a wise man’s heart discerns both time and judgment, 6 Because for every matter there is a time and judgment, Though the misery of man increases greatly. 7 For he does not know what will happen; So who can tell him when it will occur? 8 No one has power over the spirit to retain the spirit, And no one has power in the day of death. There is no release from that war, And wickedness will not deliver those who are given to it. 9 All this I have seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun: There is a time in which one man rules over another to his own hurt. 10 Then I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of holiness, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done. This also is vanity. 11 Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. 12 Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him. 13 But it will not be well with the wicked; nor will he prolong his days, which are as a shadow, because he does not fear before God. 14 There is a vanity which occurs on earth, that there are just men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. 15 So I commended enjoyment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun. 16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to see the business that is done on earth, even though one sees no sleep day or night, 17 then I saw all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. For though a man labors to discover it, yet he will not find it; moreover, though a wise man attempts to know it, he will not be able to find it.
Ecclesiastes 8:1-17 (NKJV)
This is quite a bit of material to cover this morning, so I’m not going to examine this passage verse-by-verse in great detail. I think it will be more profitable for me to make some broad observations about the passage and then take us to some other Bible passages that will help to illustrate and expound upon these principles.
1. Our response to authority reveals what we really believe about God’s sovereignty
In verse 2, Qoheleth very clearly links the subject of earthly authority to God with the phrase “for the sake of your oath to God.” To be real honest, it’s not exactly clear what Qoheleth is referring to here. There are at least three legitimate possibilities:
The oath that the people took to follow the leadership of the king, We find this example from Solomon’s life:
All the officers and mighty men, as well as all of King David’s sons, pledged their submission to King Solomon.
1 Chronicles 29:24 (NIV)
A parallel today would be something like the Pledge of Allegiance or the oath that a person takes when he or she becomes a citizen.
The oath that God made to David that his descendent would rule permanently:
The LORD swore an oath to David, a sure oath that he will not revoke: "One of your own descendants I will place on your throne - if your sons keep my covenant and the statutes I teach them, then their sons will sit on your throne for ever and ever."
Psalm 132:11, 12 (NIV)
• The oath that king made before God to rule in a godly manner.
Perhaps all three of these are wrapped up in this verse. But regardless of which of the three he is referring to, the author of Ecclesiastes very clearly connects the earthly rule of kings to our relationship with God. Evenly though he doesn’t make the point implicitly here, Qoheleth certainly implies the principle that we find throughout the Bible:
• All earthly authority is ordained by God
We see this most clearly in Paul’s letter to the church at Rome:
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
Romans 13:1 (NIV)
Although Paul is referring here primarily to the government authorities, there are other forms of authority which have been established by God as well. We find these relationships described throughout the Bible, especially in Paul’s letters. God has established authority within the family, in the workplace and in the church in addition to the governmental authority in our society. Since God is the one who established all these forms of authority, then it logically follows that…
• Rebellion against authority is rebellion against God
Paul continues with these words in Romans 13:
Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
Romans 13:2 (NIV)
The way we respond to earthly authority reveals a lot about what we really believe about God’s authority and His sovereignty. If we have a hard time obeying and honoring the authorities here on earth, whom we can see, then we are going to have a problem obeying and honoring God, whom we cannot see.
Ultimately this goes back to the root cause of all of our sin – we don’t want to obey those in authority, even God, because we want to be in charge. We want to be the gods of our own lives. And when we refuse to honor and obey the earthly authority that God has put in place we’re basically indicating that we don’t trust God to work through the authority that he has ordained for our lives.
A wise man recognizes that God has ordained authority in our lives for our own good and that therefore…
2. Our primary obligation with regard to government is to obey
In verse 2, Qoheleth commands his readers to “keep the king’s commandment” and then he goes on to provide his readers with some very practical reasons why they should obey their government leaders. Ultimately, obeying the government will prevent us from being punished by the government. Generally speaking, when you obey the king’s commands, you don’t get into any trouble with the king. When you drive the speed limit, you don’t have to worry about speed traps. When you pay your taxes, you aren’t particularly worried about an IRS audit. When you do your work faithfully on the job, it doesn’t concern you that the boss is watching.
Again, Paul comments further in Romans 13:
For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
Romans 13:3, 4 (NIV)
But this obligation to obey raises the obvious question. Am I obligated to obey everything that the government commands? What if I disagree with the government? Let’s see what the Bible says about that. Let’s begin with our passage in Ecclesiastes. I’ve read this passage through a number of times and I can’t find anything that limits my responsibility to obey only to those times when I agree with the government. The same is also true with the passages that we’ve looked at in Romans 13. Let’s look at a couple more passages that deal with obedience to the government authorities and see if we can find any exceptions there.
Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.
1 Peter 2:13-17 (NIV)
Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.
Titus 3:1, 2 (NIV)
I don’t see any exceptions there either. So it seems quite clear that we have a responsibility to obey the government authorities…
• Whether or not I agree with them
As a follower of Jesus Christ, I am to obey the governing authorities even when I don’t agree with them. Even Jesus commanded his followers to comply with the IRS and pay their taxes, even though the government might be doing something with those taxes that they disagreed with.
I’m convinced that this is going to be an even greater issue here in our country, perhaps quite soon. We already see evidence that the government is trying to limit tax deductions for charities. And it will be interesting to see how that affects how us as followers of Jesus and how we give to our local churches if we can no longer get a tax deduction for it. And in their need to raise more revenue, it’s not hard to imagine that churches are going to lose their tax-exempt status and their exemption from paying property taxes. And if that happens, Thornydale Family Church is going to have to pay those taxes whether we like it or not.
As far as I can tell from what I understand from the Bible, there are only two exceptions to my responsibility to obey the government authorities. And before I share those with you, let me just caution that at least here in our country right now, there are going to be very few times when these two exceptions are going to apply.
• Two exceptions:
o When the government requires me to do something prohibited by the Scriptures
Examples:
Moses’ parents
When Pharaoh ordered the Hebrews to throw all their male children into the Nile River and drown them, Moses’ parents refused to obey that order because it would have required them to commit murder, which was prohibited by God.
Daniel and his friends
When Daniel and his three friends were ordered to eat the food that was provided in the king’s court they refused to do so since it would have violated certain provisions of the law with regards to the foods they could eat. And then later, when Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were ordered to bow down to the image of Nebuchadnezzar they refused to do so since that would have violated the commandment to not worship other gods.
o When the government prohibits me from doing something required by the Scriptures
Examples:
Daniel
The other government officials who were jealous of Daniel tricked King Darius into signing an order that no one could pray to any other man or God other than the King. But Daniel disobeyed the order since he wanted to be obedient to God by praying to Him.
Peter and John
When Peter and John were brought before the Sanhedrin they were commanded not to proclaim the gospel of Jesus any longer, but they responded with these words:
But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."
Acts 4:19, 20 (NIV)
If we do find ourselves in one of these situations, we need to be very careful to make sure that we are being asked to violate the specific commands of Scripture and not just our own convictions or opinions. As we can observe from each of these situations, there is no guarantee that God will protect us from the often severe consequences that come with disobeying the government. The three Hebrews were thrown into the furnace. Daniel was thrown in to the lion’s den. And Peter and John did suffer persecution as they continued to preach the gospel.
3. My life does not depend on the government
Beginning in verse 6, Qoheleth describes the clear limitations of the government. No government can have control over life and death. And government, as we have seen earlier in Ecclesiastes, is incapable of preventing injustice. In fact, they are often the cause of that injustice.
Throughout history, and certainly in our day, a lot of well meaning Christians have attempted to address many of the problems in our world through the political process. In fact, just this week I was reading about 33 churches who participated in “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” last September. Those churches knowingly violated IRS regulations and endorsed specific candidates for office in order to challenge the IRS regulations that remove the tax-exempt status of churches that endorse specific candidates.
But the problem, as Paul makes clear in Ephesians is that our struggle is not against flesh and blood. The battle we are engaged in is spiritual, not political. And so the weapons that we use in that battle are to be spiritual, and not political.
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
2 Corinthians 10:3, 4 (NIV)
I’m not saying that we should completely avoid any participation in the political process. There is certainly nothing wrong with supporting and voting for candidates who support our values or ballot propositions that further our beliefs. But what I am saying is that we shouldn’t expect that the government, no matter who is in office, is going to solve our problems because every one of those problems has a spiritual root cause that is not going to be solved by any politician.
Our primary responsibility as followers of Jesus Christ is to make disciples and I certainly don’t want my politics to offend someone and keep them from coming to know Jesus. If the world is going to hate me, I want them to hate me because of my faith in Jesus, not because of my politics. Ultimately, it makes absolutely no difference if an unsaved person is for or against abortion, for or against gay marriage, a liberal or a conservative, a Democrat or a Republican. Apart from Jesus that person will spend eternity separated from God in a place of everlasting torment. God is not interested in changing people’s politics. He is much more interested in changing their hearts. And if that is where God’s focus lies, then so should mine.
But the fact that we can’t rely on the government to solve our problems also has a positive aspect to it. That also means that my ability to live a meaningful abundant life is not dependent on any government or any politician. No matter what I may think about any government official and his or her policies, I can live the kind of life that God wants me to live. And that leads us to our fourth and final principle.
4. Don’t let circumstances keep me from living life
In verse 15, Qoheleth returns again to a familiar refrain that we’ve seen in some form three previous times in Ecclesiastes. And just like in those other three instances, this is not some fatalistic encouragement to “eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we may die” Again the point here is that we need to enjoy the journey and the simple things of life that God has provided for us. But in the context of this chapter, it is also an encouragement to go on living life in spite of the fact that we can’t rely on government, which is limited in its power and an encouragement to go on living life even though we can’t always make sense of what is going on here in our lives “under the sun.”
While it is true that we are citizens of heaven and merely strangers and sojourners here on earth, the Bible is clear that we are still to make the most of our lives here. Eternal life is not just something that we’ll experience when we die. It includes our day-to-day lives right here and now.
When the prophet Jeremiah warned God’s people about their future exile in Babylon, he also made it clear that while they were in captivity there, they were to go on living their lives:
This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper."
Jeremiah 29:4-7 (NIV)
To be real honest, when I look at the direction of our country right now, I worry about what it will be like for my children and my grandchildren. And there is a tendency to wonder if we should even bring new life into this world. Or we begin to think that maybe we ought to all get together, buy a piece of land out in the sticks somewhere and take our families and our guns and just withdraw from the world. But ultimately those kinds of reactions are merely evidence that we don’t really trust in God’s sovereignty.
Instead, we need to be salt and light in this world by being good citizens, obeying our government officials, doing what we can to promote peace and prosperity here and praying to God on behalf of our country. As bad as things are and as bad as things may get in this country, can you imagine what it would be like without the preserving and enlightening effect of the devoted followers of Jesus who are salt and light in the midst of decay and darkness?
Let me close this morning with a confession. I’m a recovering political junkie. For a long time, I’ve been one of those people who would stay up all night to watch election results. I would watch the news religiously and listen to talk radio so that I could be up to date on all the latest political news. Even ran for office once and got elected to the school board.
I haven’t completely lost my interest in politics, but as I’ve gotten older and hopefully a little wiser, my focus has changed a lot. I have come to the place where I recognize that my joy is not dependent on who is in office and what they do. And so with whatever time I have left on this earth, I’m not going to waste it complaining about the government or being active in politics. I am, to the very best of my ability, going to invest my life in telling people about Jesus and helping them to grow in their relationship with Him. I’m going to try and be salt and light and pray for my country and its leaders and trust that God, in His sovereignty, will use all that happens to further His purposes and bring glory to Himself.
